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Captain Edmund Belfry
Edmund Alexander Belfry (1837-1863) '''was a Prussian ''Kapitän zur See ''and statesman who designed and headed the first fleet of military airships in history between 1861 and 1873. Early Years Edmund Belfry was born in a small village in Yorkshire England on February 12, 1837, to Officer Robert Belfry and an unnamed, likely, prostitute mother. Belfry's mother died in childbirth and so he grew up under the tutelage of his father until the age of two, when he was relocated to the Carribean with his father and then Duke of Ironwood, William Frederick. Instead of being taught with other children of naval officers at an English Academy, Belfry was brought up alongside William Frederick's son and heir Prince Leopold. After the birth of Princess Mercy Adelaide in 1843, the Duke of Ironwood built an imperial palace whereafter the three lived in close apartments. Service in the Royal Navy In 1854, both Prince Leopold and Belfry joined the ranks of the British Royal Navy. When Leopold went on special tour to the US, Belfry stayed behind and developed a closer relationship to the Princess Mercy. By growing up under the tutelage of William Frederick, he quickly rose the ranks with his reference. He relocated to England in 1856. Service in the Prussian Navy Blackballed by William Frederick in England, Belfry deserted the Navy not long after and worked in shipyards in rapidly industrializing Britain. It was during this time that he became seriously interested in airships, which operated in a small, air balloon like capacity in South England. In December of 1861, a freak accident with an airship developed for voyaging resulted in the death of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's husband, and resulted in the outlawing of all airships in the British Empire. Belfry, along with hundreds of scientists, engineers, and shipyard workers fled to Bavaria and later Prussia, who's airship industry flourished. Unhampered by regulation and bans, the airships commissioned by the Prussian Navy were technological marvels. The first fleet was born in 1861, and Belfry was its captain. '''Die Macht Known among the Germans as "die macht" or "the power," this suspicious ore was discovered by Belfry in the mid 1850s. It is considered a sort of proto-uranium, and allowed the flagship of Belfry's fleet to operate without coal by burning this ore instead. A ship of that size required an immense amount of coal, making the ship far too heavy to fly, and so using die macht ''allowed the ship to grow larger at a lesser cost and greater speed. This was revealed to William Frederick by his German agent and Belfry's lieutenant, Agnes Strauss. The '''Belfry's Mage', as the flagship was called, is the largest airship to date. The Belfry's Mage, Ship Promotion to Captain at Sea and Final Voyage In late 1862, Prime Minister Otto von Bismark and Kaiser Wilhelm I conferred upon Belfry the title of Herzog zu Eisenholz, which is the German version of "Duke of Ironwood," in an intentional snub to Prince William Frederick, Duke of Ironwood. Both titles were made up by their respective governments, but Belfry's title came with some land and a quasi-dukedom of the town of Friedrichshafen. Following this ceremony, von Bismark is said to have told Belfry that German Unification rested on his shoulders alone. In January, he was promoted to Kapitän zur See, ''one of the highest ranks in the navy, at the mere age of 29. To mark the Belfry's Mage's maiden voyage, the German embassy and Captain Belfry hosted a ball to take place over London. Belfry was also motivated by a search for a suitable bride. Prior to 1863, he had considered the offers of several daughters of the Junker and industrial elite. He came to London in March of 1863 with the intention of reconecting with Princess Mercy Adelaide, who was also considering marriage options at the time. Belfry proposed to the princess, who rejected him, and proposed to her again after a week at her father's residence of Ironwood House. That time, she accepted and the couple resolved to elope. Without her father's support, a nasty altercation broke out that resulted in the deaths of Princess Elisabeth of Prussia and her son Prince Edward. Fleeing London and joined by Leopold, Belfry escaped to the French Riviera to the town of Nice. The Belfry's Mage never leaves Nice as it runs out of fuel on the morning of April 1, 1863. Belfry resolved to perish alongside his ship, but only Lt. Agnes Strauss died in the catastrophe, making her the true captain of the ship. Relationship with Mercy Adelaide Prior to 1854, Edmund Belfry was as much as an older brother to Mercy as Leopold was. When Leopold and his father leave for the US in 1854, Mercy is emboldened to introduce Edmund to ''die macht which is the traditional power and resource of her people. It is unclear why Edmund instigates a sexual relationship with Mercy, then 11 years old, but several rapes result in the conception of a child, Catherine. Edmund tries to force an abortion by poisoning Mercy in 1856, but results in the early birth of their child. Mercy nearly dies as a result and reveals the nature of their relationship over the past two years. William Frederick castrates Edmund, but decides not to kill him, and instructs Mercy to block out what happened to her. Later when they reconnect in 1863, Mercy is convinced Edmund is her lost love, which encourages Edmund to propose to her. Thwarted by her father, they decide to elope, but in the struggle to take her from Ironwood, Mercy remembers the rape. Edmund also brutalizes her brother, Leopold, and captures the two siblings to take them aboard his ship. Mercy, half in love with someone else, confronts Edmund about the rape and murder, enraging him to the point where he beats her and reveals that he has been castrated. In a final attempt to convince her to marry him, he allows her to travel to the Nice, but keeps and mock crucifies Leopold to ensure she returns. He is met with her cousin Solomon and would be suitor Nicholas. There, Mercy commits herself to succeeding her mother as Queen, which keeps her apart from Edmund, and sleeps with Grand Duke Nicholas Alexandrovich, conceiving his child. Understanding that she cannot have either option without being rid of Edmund, she resolves to kill him. She is unable to and Edmund shoots Nicholas after revealing that Mercy isn't as pure as her suitor has made her out to be. While Edmund intended to marry Mercy, he also needed her hair, which contained the same magical properties as the ore that sustained his ship, so that by failing to secure ownership of her as his wife, he failed to save his grossly unsustainable ship. The Belfry's Mage, which in many ways symbolizes the relationship of the couple, falls that morning. Relationship with William Frederick Although nearly raising him his whole life, Prince William Frederick had a complicated view of Captain Belfry. It is hinted that William Frederick is responsible for the death of the senior Belfry. While they had been chums in the navy, William Frederick turned on Robert Belfry when he made a racist comment about the former's lover, Maria. It is not clear if Belfry is aware of this singular murder. Due to his impregnation of Mercy in 1856 and nearly costing her life, William Frederick nearly kills Belfry, deciding not to for his daughter's sake. Belfry is unable to return to the Royal Navy because of him and decides to desert after behind denied honorable discharge. William Frederick is able to pay Belfry's friend and later Lt. Agnes Strauss for updates on Edmund following the Ironwood/Einholz snub, but naively accepts an invitation to the March ball as an indication of diplomacy and goodwill. William Frederick later forbids Mercy to marry Edmund, knowing that his daughter has blocked out the trauma at his direction. When Mercy and Edmund attempt to elope and foil his plans of marrying her to Grand Duke Nicholas, heir to the Russian throne, the two men speak for the first and last time in seven years. William Frederick uses Edmund's murder of Elisabeth and Edward to sully his character and frame him in his own assasination in a final act of defiance. Death and Legacy Due to the deaths of the Princess of Prussia and son, who were relations to Kaiser Wilhelm, and the attempted murder of both Grand Duke Nicholas Alexandrovich, heir to the Russian throne, and Prince Leopold, and lastly, the apparent assassination of Prince William Frederick, Duke of Ironwood, Belfry soon became the most wanted man in Europe. According to a letter to her son, Mercy's description of his execution of Belfry is the best surviving record of that day. Edmund Belfry was executed by firing squad on August 20, 1863, but by then had already become a celebrated hero in the German states. His vision for the airship was one of unity, well-paying jobs, and a community bonded by culture as well as future. The more radical of his believers lauded his killings of bourgeoise and royalty, calling for socialism as well as assassinations. This message spread beyond the nascent German empire, most notably into Russia, where assasination attempts on the tsar began in the global aftermath of his execution. He remains a locally respected figure in popular history.